


Morale Code

by Sarcastic-Mess (MasterOfDisaster)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF!Clint, BAMF!Tony, M/M, Making Out, Pre-Iron Man 1, hitman Clint, mercenary Clint, sorry about that, the end is a bit rushed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-06
Updated: 2016-10-06
Packaged: 2018-08-19 21:54:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8225953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MasterOfDisaster/pseuds/Sarcastic-Mess
Summary: When Clint receives Tony Stark as his next hit, he decides to follow his code in only killing criminals and refuse. That should it, but Clint's curiosity gets the better of him and he has to infiltrate Stark Industries.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, I don't know if I write more in this universe. For now it stands alone, but there are options, as you will see.  
> Enjoy this un-beta'd piece of Something. Feedback is always great to see. Don't restrain yourselves.

  
  


As usual he was searched for weapons, was liberated off his handgun which was placed a bit away on a table and then led through a set of doors, an overlooked knife in his boot and a wire hidden behind his belt. He had been there six times now, including this time, and they had never found anything but the gun. Maybe they just stopped looking after that or they trusted him now for some dumb reason. He didn't know.

“Ah, Hawkeye, punctual as ever.” The heavy-set man lounging on an armchair was covered in expensive fabric and jewellery around his thick neck and fingers, was Gerard Foust, a loan shark, drug dealer and go-to guy, if you want something done off the record. It was also a nice pay check whenever the man might need someone taken out.

“Who?”

A file was held out to him by one of the bodyguards, Ted, Clint had found out at visit number two.

Unlike the last files, which had only contained a photo, a name and a general background check that Clint had always looked up again himself, this one was thicker. He flipped it open and the picture of Anthony “Call me Tony” Stark was laying on top. Three pages of information on the man and the company and where he would be in the next two weeks, while a note attached to it declared: “The later it gets, the shakier the schedule.” Clint believed it. Stark was notorious for making last minute plans and doing stints the public loved to report on, but Stark industries hated to do statements on.

Clint really wanted to know why him. Before it had been all people related to some crime or other, but as far as he knew Stark only had a reputation that he did what he wanted, but wasn't involved in anything actual illegal. But Clint wasn't supposed to ask those kind of questions.

“Anything special?”

“No accident. My... client would prefer it if Mister Stark finds his end from the hands of a shunted lover.” A nasty smirk accompanied the words and Clint's stomach turned, while his expression remained neutral.

It definitely was a valid strategy. Everyone knew how Stark was with the ladies. No one would even think of questioning it.

Clint pushed the file under his arm. “Payment like usual.” And with that he walked out, grabbed his gun and went outside to the stolen car he had taken just before coming here and that he would bring back now, before the owner noticed anything. Then he would do some research to try to find something about Stark that would justify killing him, considering Clint's rules.

~*~

After two days of searching and gathering information, Clint finally concluded that Tony Stark was not a criminal and has done nothing illegal, thus not falling into the category Clint deemed alright to assassinate. It was too bad. He would probably loose Foust's clients and the money had always been very good, but money was not a substitute for violating his moral code and killing an innocent.

What was interesting though, was what he had found looking into Stark Industries. It was only minor things, discrepancies which could be overlooked, because they weren't relevant. Clint hadn't been able to investigate it further without being directly in the main building, and while Clint had decided not to kill Stark, he was definitely intrigued now.

So he had arranged a job interview for the conveniently vacated Analyst position. The guy before him had abruptly resigned and taken off to Argentina, before his side job dealing drugs could become public.

Now at around three in the afternoon he was called into the office of Miss Pepper Potts, Stark's PA in title and unofficially handling more of the company than the man himself. At least from what Clint had managed to dig up.

“Thank you for coming in on such short notice.” Miss Potts offered him her hand and he took it and gave her a moderate handshake.

“Thank you for having me. I didn't expect anything to come off it. I thought you weren't looking for new people.” He unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down on the chair she had indicated.

“It was a surprise for us all, Mister Brandt. I hope we don't have to look for long thought.” She looked at his falsified CV and certifications and then smiled at him. It seemed genuine. “I have to say, you led a remarkable life so far. Nothing indicates that we wouldn't be happy to have you here at SI, but I have to ask, why did you leave Morningstar? Was it mutual or...” 

The door crashed open, nearly slamming against the wall. Miss Potts startled in her seat as Clint turned almost completely in his seat and reached for his hidden knife automatically.

“Can you believe this?! These idiots talked behind my back and come to a decision. A decision, Pepper! Without me. I ought to have them all fired.” Tony Stark himself was walking into the room, wearing an impeccable suit and his hair in complete disarray, with his hands in the air.

“Tony! I am in an interview. What do you think you're doing?”, Miss Potts hissed and stalked around her desk and towards the billionaire.

Clint stood up and buttoned up his jacket again, waiting if he had to introduce himself to the man he had been hired to kill. It definitely made him smirk slightly at the irony.

“What?” It seemed like Stark was only now realizing that Clint was in the room and his eyes swept over him like he was just furniture, before turning back to his PA. “It's not important. What is important is that Obie had a meeting without me. Me! I own this building, hell, this company.” He spread his arms wide as if he could encompass it all. “I mean I don't care how much of some type of rifle is produced, but come on. It's the principle.”

“Tony”, Miss Potts sounded like he was trying not to strangle him. “When you act like you own this company and care about it in any way, then you can come to me to complain about the board members. But right now, I have someone here who is looking to fill the vacant Analyst spot I told you about. The one Mister Narom had left empty yesterday. So if you could just...”

“Oh, you mean the drug dealer?”

Clint raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't known anyone else here knew about that. Interesting.

“I told you, he is not a drug dealer. He had a family...”

“Emergency. Yes yes. You have said. Repeatedly.” Stark rolled his eyes and then his eyes fell on Clint again and this time he actually looked at him from top to bottom and back up again. “Well, who do we have here?” He stalked over the three steps and held out his hand. “Tony Stark. Pleasure to meet you, handsome.”

Clint allowed himself to smile, when he took his hand. “William Brandt. I heard a lot of things about you, Mister Stark.”

“Oh, please, call me Tony and depending from who've heard it from, they are not true.” A smirk, self-confident and completely false. A mask to hide the real him. Clint should know. He looked at one every time he looked at himself.

Something had shifted in Stark with Clint's words. It was only a slight tensing of the corner's of his mouth, the tiny change caused his smile to transform from flirty to practiced and Stark moved his shoulders so that he seemed natural for him to stand back and turn to Miss Potts again.

“I hope it is true. I was talking about the Maria Stark Foundation and the rumors talking about a possible clean energy branch of Stark Industries.”

Both of them turned towards him again, Miss Potts surprised and Stark more relaxed again.

“I am sure if you want more, we could talk. Over a drink perhaps?” And the flirting was back. 

“Tony, stop it. You're not going to seduce one of your employees. That's unethical.”

Clint perked up. “Does that mean I am hired?”

“Nothing about your history or your person suggests that I shouldn't. If you have the time I can show you around a bit.”

“Oh, I'll do it. You have so much on your plate. Let me lighten the load a little. It's the last I could do.” Stark winked at Clint who observed amused how Miss Potts leveled a hard look at him.

“So selfless”, she said dryly and then cast a glance at her desk, papers neatly stacked on one side with impressive height, before she sighed. “Be professional about this.”

Stark placed a hand over his heart. “You wound me. When have I ever be unprofessional?”

“I can't recall”, Clint butted in and smiled innocently, when the two looked at him.

“Oh, I like this guy.” Stark threw his arm around Clint's shoulders and led him out of Miss Potts' office quickly. “We're going to have so much fun.”

“Are you this welcoming to every new employees?”

“Only the good looking ones”, he quipped back and Clint chuckled.

As they walked down the corridor Stark's arm slipped off Clint's shoulders and he was glad for it. He didn't like being hindered in ways that would prevent him from defending himself efficiently, if it came to it. 

“So, why Stark Industries?”

“Isn't it obvious?”

Stark waved it off. “People come here for a chance to meet me, for trying to get their ideas in production with us or even to try to gain access to our weapons to use it for their nefarious plans. I want to know in which category you fall.”

“Let's see. I met you and you're just a person like any other.” A snort commented that, but Clint ignored it and continued. “I'm not an inventor and I have no need for any of your weapons.” He had already enough to last him a little while. “I can honestly say that I don't want anything that harms you or your company.”

Stark stopped and grabbed his arm, forcing Clint to stop too. “I have spent enough time with politicians to know that while perhaps you're not lying, you are also not telling the whole truth.”

Ducking his head Clint bit down slightly on his bottom lip, making sure Stark caught it. “It's embarrassing.” He started to shuffle around, before abruptly stopping himself.

“I have my fair share of embarrassing moments. No judgment here.” He sounded compassionate and sincere.

“I had thing for my boss. Tried to approach him about it. You know, try to start something. He rejected me and he was very gracious about it, but I couldn't work there anymore, so.” He gave an awkward shrug.

“Aww, you're adorable.” Stark wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. “We totally need to grab a drink some time.”

“Is what Miss Potts said true? Are you trying to seduce me, Mister Stark?” Clint pitched his voice lower and tilted his body a little bit, so that Stark would pick up on it only unconsciously. Clint had perfected the art of body language over the years and by now he could act like anyone he wanted, express every emotion and read everyone.

“Are you amendable to be seduced, Mister Brandt?” Stark stepped closer, placing a hand on Clint's forearm, rubbing his thumb over the fabric in circles.

If anything came out of this that was not only the information what was going on in the company, Clint definitely wouldn't say no. Stark was attractive and this was so not a hardship.

“If you don't tell Miss Potts, I won't.” He licked his lips and watched how Stark's eyes followed the motion. A bright grin lightened up his face and he was about to say something, when someone behind them cleared their throat.

They turned around, dislodging the hand from Clint's forearm, but not bringing any more space between them.

“Tony, I was wondering where you went. You disappeared so quickly after the meeting.” Obadiah Stane with two men unknown to Clint by his side was standing tall and confident in front of them. His expression was full of neutral curiosity, while his body screamed authority and the need to suppress. Clint didn't like him at all. Though his record had been clean, Clint didn't rule him out of anything. He was doing the same thing with Stark, however Stark he actually kinda liked. 

“Oh you know me. So much to do, so little time.” While Stark's body stayed relaxed, Clint could tell if was forced, same with his smile.

“Ah, yes. Your little project with clean energy. How much time are you investing in that hobby this time?” Stane's tone was pleasant, but it still raised the hair on the back of Clint's neck.

“I am making progress. How is the slowing down of the weapons production going?”

There was a barely noticeable tick in Stane's jaw, before he smiled. “I am making progress.”

Interesting.

“Mister Stark, you wanted to show me where I could get a badge?”

Stark looked at Clint with an unreadable expression for just one second, before he turned back to Stane. “Right. I nearly forgot. So much going on in this old thing.” He tapped the side of his head with a rueful smile. “If you excuse us, Obie.” Taking hold of Clint's left shoulder he steered them around and then walked away at a steady, but brisk pace. When they had rounded the corner and were out of sight, Stark threw his head back and laughed, before he turned and grabbed Clint's face with both hands.

“Oh, how I could kiss you right now.”

Clint smirked at him. “Maybe not where everyone can see.”

“You handsome angel. You are truly a gift. How did you know?” Stark let him go again and they made their way over to the elevators.

“I am not sure what you are referring to. I was just uncomfortable in his presence”, Clint bluffed as they stepped into an empty elevator.

“But he is so delightful.” Stark pressed the button for one of the higher floors, the one that housed Stark's office, but which Clint wasn't supposed to know.

“Where are we going?”

The billionaire smirked at him a little from the side and looked him up and down again. “To get that drink, of course.”

Clint ducked his head again and quickly thought about his plan. Maybe he didn't need to wait for his first workday. Maybe he already got the opportunity to gain access to the company's files today. He only needed to take care of Stark.

Stark led him into his office with a hand on the small of Clint's back, a warm presence that was somehow not forcing at all.

The office was all expensive art and furniture, designed to look comfortable and inviting, but the desk was cluttered with all kinds of things. Paper, small tools like a screwdriver and a small wrench, metal bits and electronic parts Clint had no hopes of understanding. While the desk looked used, Clint could see that Stark didn't come up here often. Maybe to escape some meeting or other, but he noticed under the overly confident strut into the space and towards the bar at one wall that Stark didn't like it here and didn't feel comfortable at all. 

“What's your poison?” Stark gestured over the various decanters filled with different coloured liquids.

Clint stepped up beside him, deliberately pressing their sides together and earning an appreciative side-glance. “I am not much of an alcohol drinker.” Not since his father had become a downright monster every time he had been drunk. “My... pleasures lay elsewhere I'm afraid.”

“Oh, do tell.” Stark abandoned the glass he had poured himself in favor of turning towards him with a glint in eye.

Licking his lips he moved slightly closer. “I told you earlier that I fancied my boss. It's a thing of mine. Men with authority.” He fingered the lapel of Stark's suit who watched him hungrily. “Helps when they are good looking.” 

Stark chuckled, his fingers trailing up Clint's arm until they rested against the side of his face. “Tell me, are you by chance here to seduce me and take all my company secrets?” It was still said in that husky voice of his and it took Clint a moment to realize that it wasn't any kind of pillow talk.

Leaning back Clint looked at him in genuine surprise. “Excuse me?” How could he have known? Had Clint been too forward and had blown his cover?

“Don't get me wrong. You're very convincing, maybe you even want to have sex with me, but William Brandt doesn't exist. Oh, it's a very good fake identity, but after some digging he has nothing to back it up.” Stark took his glass and sipped from it. “So, who are you and who sent you? This is your chance, before I call security.”

Clint could only stare at him for a bit more. Against his better judgment he was impressed. When had he looked him up? Before or after they had met in Miss Potts' office? He hadn't noticed at all.

“I was hired to kill you.” Yeah, that was the way not to get arrested. Did the low-key arousal muddle his brain somehow?

“You're doing a terrible job, so far.” He moved away and to his desk, before letting himself fall onto his chair.

“And you don't seem at all phased.” Clint walked in front of the desk, hands at his side in plain view. It wasn't like he was going to kill him.

Stark shrugged, taking another sip of his drink. “I received too many death threats to take them seriously anymore.”

“Are you the one moving numbers around in your records?” Now that it was kind of in the open, Clint had no problem just asking.

“Nothing was moved around. Everything is where it is supposed to be.” He looked at Clint like he was a stupid child.

“The number of produced weapons doesn't match the price they were sold at. It isn't off by so much that it is noticeable, but there is money coming in in other places, research, other products that is slightly too much. But it is only a few days after a sale, before everything that is too much vanishes in thin air, like it was never there.” Clint leaned onto the desk with both hands. “So either you're taking the money for yourself after making some deals off the record or...” 

“Someone else is”, Stark finished and discarded his glass in favor of pushing the stuff on desk to the ground so that he could access his computer more easily. His finger flew over the keys and Clint came around the desk to see what he was doing.

Faster than Clint would have been able to and even faster than Clint could really understand, Stark went through different files, numbers and even codes.

“No way”, Stark muttered under his breath and opened something that looked barely there.

“What is that?”

“A ghost file. There shouldn't be anything like that in my system. Let's see what you are hiding.”

More lines of code.

Anticipation was thrumming through Clint's veins and clenched and relaxed his hands a few times, until Stark made a sound of triumph and opened the file.

Documents. It wasn't even a lot of them.

Stark opened the first one, revealing a contract. It was about weapons, produced by Stark Industries, being hand over against payment to other organizations. There was no name on either side of the exchange.

The next document was filled with numbers, the real numbers from the look of it, but it still didn't tell them any names.

Clint was slowly getting frustrated, but then Stark opened what looked like an exchange of e-mails. The first name that he noticed was _Seven Rings._

“Fuck.” - “Sonsofbitches.” They swore at the same time, before looking at each other.

“The Seven Rings are stationed in Afghanistan. They are really, really bad news”, Clint explained and Stark's eyes went wide.

“I am supposed to do a presentation in Afghanistan next month. Well, that explains at least a little bit of why Obie's name is on there.” He made a gesture towards the screen where the other correspondent party was _Obadiah Stane._

“Why would he want to sabotage you?”

“I think he wants to kill me. He is completely against the new direction I want to take the company in.” He swung his chair around so that his legs were framing Clint's. “Do you know who hired you? Did you meet them face to face?”

Clint shook his head. “It always goes over a middle man. I never know who exactly wants the person dead. It never gave me any problems.”

Humming Stark tapped his fingers onto the arm of his chair, looking up at him thoughtfully. “But you are not going to kill me.” It was more a statement than a question, but Clint shook his nonetheless.

“I came here for the numbers and to figure out what was going on there. I don't kill good people.”

Stark gave him a wry smile. “People would disagree on your definition of _good_.”

“Maybe, but I have specific criteria and you don't fit them.”

“Or you had simple no opportunity.”

Faster than Stark could blink Clint pulled out of his knife and pressed it against his throat for two brief seconds, before putting it back where it had come from. “I had plenty of opportunities. You don't even need to leave your house to give me an opportunity.”

“That's hot.” Stark licked his lips and his pupils had dilated a bit. Clint had to laugh at that and suddenly he was pulled forward into Stark's lap, knees braced at Stark's hips. “And that was hot.”

Clint braced his hands on Stark's shoulders. “Does me being an assassin mean that we can't fool around?”

“Hell no.” And with that Stark pulled Clint down the last inches separating them and pressed their mouths together.

Stark's mouth was warm and he tasted like coffee and alcohol. It was an unusual combination, but somehow it worked for Clint. Heat spread through his whole body and he relaxed into the kiss, giving as good as he got, and Stark was a really good kisser.

Clint moved his hands up to bury them in Stark's hair as the billionaire's hands unbuttoned his suit jacket and slipped underneath to caress his back.

For a while they just kissed as the heat of Stark's hands burned through the thin shirt Clint was wearing where they alternated between moving up and down and simply resting on parts. Clint kept his own hands in Stark's hair, ruffling it out of his combed state, carding the strands through his fingers.

It had been a long time since Clint had taken his time with someone and not just jumped straight to the fucking. It was good. Kissing Stark was like shooting his bow, he could do it for hours with no thought of stopping. Even the arousal that had spread through his body was steady and allowed that Clint didn't feel the need to get off as fast as possible and could enjoy this to the fullest.

“Tony”, someone shouted and they startled away from each other, Clint nearly falling from Stark's lap. His hand went to his knife as he looked what was going on, but he quickly let his hand fall away again as he only discovered Miss Potts with a thick file in her hands and a fierce glare on her face.

“I can't believe you. I told you to not start anything with our employees and here you go. And in your office. What are you thinking? Do you know how many law suits you earned with this?” She seemed to realize that Clint was also listening. “Not that you should file any. I mean...”

“It's okay, Miss Potts.” Clint climbed from Stark's lap, noting the deep red the other man's lips had turned and how they were pulled in a self-satisfied smirk. “I won't file anything. In fact, I am sorry to say that I quit.”

“What? That's... Tony, what did you do?”

“Me? You were the one who hired an assassin as an analyst.”

Clint rolled his eyes as Miss Potts looked from one to other and then sighed and rubbed at her temple.

“Please, from the beginning.”

And that's what they did. Well, Stark told the story with a lot of exaggerations, but Clint just let him and went to the bar to find two glasses of water, before he put one into her hands, which she took with a grateful smile.

“Okay. Let me see if I got this correctly. You.” She pointed at Clint. “Were hired to kill Tony, but you found discrepancies in our numbers instead and decided to investigate that by being hired by us. Then you met Tony and he seduced you up here and you found evidence that paints Stane as the bad guy who sold our weapons to terrorists and maybe hired you here to kill Tony.”

“Exactly”, Stark proclaimed and Clint just nodded, from where he was leaning against the desk.

“Do you have a name?”, she asked Clint and Stark perked up.

“I do”, Clint answered and smiled at them, earning him an impatient look from Stark.

“What is it?”

“Wouldn't you like to know, Stark.”

“You had your tongue in my mouth, I think you can call me Tony.” He winked and Miss Potts sighed again, while Clint chuckled.

“I'll keep that in mind for next time. Now that this is resolved, I think I need to skip town to avoid a disgruntled criminal who is probably wanting my head for not doing what he paid me to do.” He put his glass on the desk and straightened up. “It was a pleasure.”

They were both protesting and calling security as he walked out of the office and stepped into the elevator. He grinned at them both as the doors closed right in front of them. The moment the cabin set in motion he stretched up and pried the lid open, before jumping and pulling himself up into the elevator shaft. Closing the lid he plunged himself in semi-darkness and he waited until the cabin stopped. He could hear voices shouting below him, frantic and ordering to find him.

It was always fun to escape those who were hunting him.

  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I went there with the name.  
> To those who didn't notice, it's okay. It isn't that important anyway.  
> [Look at this fancy thing that is my tumblr.](https://sarcasticmesswriting.tumblr.com)


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